(EN) 2008 is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Action Center based in USA, asked Seth Brau to give his contribution.

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(IT) Quest'anno è il 60esimo anniversario della Dichiarazione Universale dei Diritti Umani e lo Human Rights Action Center con base in USA, ha proposto a Seth Brau di dare il suo contributo.

Is it me or is the BBC website starting to turn into some macabre Videodrome style snuff-lite outlet? In both these clips, those involved lived to see another day, but God knows how. The human body can be a resilient mammajamma.

First up, a Scottish tyke headbutts a bus, and comes off second best.

And then a video featuring crazy Swedish twin ladies that doesn't end up how you might be thinking. You'll never shout "Why" so many times at your screen again.

A longer version exists here, and a thread trying to make sense of it all is here.

Some appropriate P-Funk spin off action to bring your heartbeat back to normal. Well, normalish.

Eddie Hazel - Frantic Moment

(EN)  Latest stencil by ABOVE is causing different reactions in the viewers. Some of them don't like the idea of the aggression, some others love the "stealing to the rich to give to the poor" concept. For sure the stencil changed the usual perception of that particular corner in Lisbon.

(IT) L'ultimo lavoro di ABOVE sta causando reazioni disparate. Alcuni non apprezzano l'idea dell'aggessione, altri adorano il concetto del "rubare ai ricchi per dare ai poveri". Di sicuro lo stencil ha cambiato la percezione di chi è passato per quell'angolo di Lisbona.

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Spellbound

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Painted Bird

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Happy House

Au moment des séparations, le partage du fonds commun occasionne souvent quelques malentendus, sinon des conflits. Pendant plus de dix ans, M. et moi avions soigneusement évité de mélanger nos vynils, cds et autres cassettes, car si nos goûts musicaux restaient proches, chacun prenait soin de ses affaires, évitant que le moindre amalgame puisse être commis entre la tenante de la pop anglaise et l'amateur de grindcore... Bref, lors du tri final, je remarquai que le "Nocturne" des Banshees avait glissé de mon étagère à celle de M., sans que je susse qui était à l'origine de ce terrible forfait. Pas que je fusse un fan de l'égérie de Vivienne Westwood et de Malcom McLaren, mais j'adorais et j'adore toujours cet album live au son quasi parfait et qui propose, à mon avis, le meilleur line-up du groupe avec Robert Smith aux guitares. S'ensuivit, comme chacun l'imagine, une âpre négociation dont je sortis finalement vainqueur. Ce que j'ai pu vérifier ce matin, non sans un certain soulagement, puisque j'ai retrouvé cette pépite dans mes piles de cds...

It's a shame because this film stared off very well. During its first fifteen minutes, it was able to swiftly and astutely state its hypothesis and relate it to its audiences. Even though it was released in 1983, two subjects that are seemingly disparate--sex and violence--are more relevant today than ever. The picture was able to take those two things and combine them in multiple scenes to show that their effects are not as different as most people think. It makes a commentary regarding how much people can take before they become desensitized or maybe even dehumanized by the media's images. Although the acting may have been on the weaker side and the special effects are dated, the concept makes up for it. What makes this really flawed is that it wasn't able to keep the kind of great focus it had in a beginning. About forty minutes into it, I wanted to do or watch something else. The last twenty minutes were typical and maybe even predictable in many respects. It became another head trip that could easily be forgotten once it passed. Still, I'm not against recommending this film to people who care more about the concept than the story because the ideas and horrifying images are truly original.

Prestige, The
[ 2 stars out of 4 ]

When I saw this movie for the first time, I didn't like it because I thought the ending was a big head-scratcher. After seeing it for the second time, I liked it a little bit more (although not by much) because I knew which hints to look for that will eventually justify the twist ending. My problem with this movie is not the acting, the pacing, or its ideas. My problem with it is the writing. If they were going to make a movie about magic tricks, the writing should stay grounded in reality from start to finish because, that way, the audience won't feel cheated. Adding science fiction into the mix is a big no-no because that would mean anything goes, which means the whole magic storyline is down the toilet. The filmmakers might as well have put aliens trying to invade the world into the movie for the sake of being random. Apart from that, this movie has one twist after twist after twist... until I started to get a headache. Watching more attentively the second time, I also realized that the story is somewhat convoluted to the point of suffocation. There were just so many frustrating pieces that had no role or didn't seem to fit in the bigger picture. If one wants a better movie about magic tricks, I recommend "The Illusionist" instead.

Diary of the Dead
[ 1 star out of 4 ]

There's nothing scary about this movie. Throughout the picture, I feel like the actors were a bunch of amateurs who are going for camp more than anything; since their characters weren't convincingly scared, the audience, too, weren't scared. The social commentaries felt beyond forced and heavy-handed to the point where I thought, "Enough already! I get what you're trying to say about the media. Now, give us solid thrills!" But the commentaries weren't just about the media. It covers issues such as racism, feminism, dependence on technology, anarchy, terrorism... I like that the picture has ideas, but in this instance, the ideas overwhelmed the script and the story. I didn't get to know the characters so I didn't care what would happen to them. You'd think that a film by George Romero would be good or even borderline great because he is very capable of producing films that are truly scary. This is a big unfortunate exception because everything felt so out of place and pointless. Maybe the problem are the zombies as well. After "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later," slow-moving zombies just don't pump up the scares anymore.

(EN) Remember to switch them off!

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(IT) Ricordatevi di spegnerli!

Thanx to goodmagazine

Groupe de doux dingots en provenance directe de la verte (et plus très vierge) Irlande. J'avoue que, pour moi, leur écoute fut souvent une corvée... Pour plus de plus amples (comme leurs jolies robes) détails : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Prunes

I suspect, if you're anything like me, then you're wanting to re-watch this thing, like, now.  If so, you might go HERE to watch it in far superior quality.

Pretty great, right?

(EN) Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny are the first sources of religious doubt. Hypnotizing work by Celemens Kogler.

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(IT) Babbo Natale, il topolino dei denti e il coniglietto di Pasqua sono le cause primarie del dubbio religioso. Video ipnotizzante di Celemens Kogler.

   Quem não mora em são paulo e fica mais dificil de ver ele tocar, tem os links pros set´s dele no blog que ele lançou essa semana (depois dessa entrevista) os links vão no final do post.

Avavavavavavav///:  O que seria House In Your Life, que tem em todos os teus materiais na net?

K: House in your life, é o nome que eu adotei para todos os sets,  que há cada três meses eu lanço como um trabalho profissional fazendo parte de meu portifólio. É marketing pessoal.. Vem a ser um cd promocional. Distribuído gratuitamente, é mixado tá.

Avavavavavavav///:  Tá tchê (o cara é gaúcho), onde tu acha que vai chegar com este trabalho?

K: Eu considero uma coleção ( risos)  .Uma coleção de 4 edições, elaborada e mixada por mim,  dj kiron,  não desejo alcançar nada alem de ver pessoas ouvirem e balançar a cabeça., paquerar, antes e pós balada. É sensacional. Há cada três meses, eu crio uma seleção de músicas que toquei nesta seqüência de tempo. Os promocionais são,  em formato mp3, e a distribuição é feita sobre o sistema de download .A distribuição não tem a intenção de ganhar dinheiro. E,  um trabalho de marketing pessoal, e ao mesmo tempo externo, em que o artista divulga ícones da música eletrônica mundial, e mostra um pouco dos sons que está discotecando.

Avavavavavavav///: E como ta essa ultima edicao, é primavera e tal? (eu to escutando o set agora. Otimo!)

K: Setembro de 2008, House in your Life,. Está mais que especial.

Meus sets variam de acordo com a estação do ano. Nesta edição, eu revivo  grandes nomes como: Moby (uma versão especial do freemassons (  Guga está é  para você ),  e também, conto, com alguns de meus ídolos-,  Frankie Nuckles ( cecin ...)  , O bombástico Funk Green Doggs , em uma versão que o nosso glorioso sharam, que  deu uma apimentada e criou uma nova  roupagem, ( the best ) Sobre, Casey barnes- tiny dancer eu nem precisarei comentar nadinha. I luv!

No set também, apresento uma versão espetacular de Boys Town Gang, o stonebridge reviveu,  o que havia de melhor nos velhos tempos, onde a discoteca era assim, Básica!

 Avavavavavavav///: E a inspiração pra está etapa, quais seriam as táticas pro teu set, sempre bem desenvolvido?

K: Está da 3ª  edição de 2008,  eu focalizei, nos Houselovers de carterinha. Pessoas que amam de verdade o verdadeiro House Music . Também. O set foi elaborado, em uma faze, que eu  estou com meus sentimentos há Flor da pele; se é que me entendem?!. eu costumo viver o presente. Uma das coisas  que faço, é ao acordar às 05:00 am, para começar sua jornada diária., a cada minuto agradeço por algo que tenho, e escuto o som que mais elevou seu ego na última noite em que discotequei.

Avavavavavavav///: Dizem que todo houseiro é meio sentimental, você é?

K: (risps) Sou  de gêmeos, e nós por natureza somos sentimentais. Somos seres humanos apaixonados ( risos)

Avavavavavavav///: Tú ri é, entao me conta uma coisa, teu playlist, tu revela?

K: Claro , o set é romântico, ao menos tempo divertido, você precisa ouvir e sentir as freqüências sonoras penetrarem em seu pensamento. Aconselho ouvir há dois. Seja aonde for, Tudo o que você ouve, tem uma fonte de desejo. (playlist e link pra download no final)

Avavavavavavav///: Valeu Sílvio! (a.k.a. Silvio Antonio Capeleto Polhmann, diz ele que é alemão) na sequencia linko tuas coisas e passo ai na tua praquela sessão (rsrs)

K: Vem ai, a baia é nossa! Abraço pra todos os meus amigos, eu amo meus amigos!

A gauchada,  Pimpo,  Juliano, Claiton ,  Rossano, Rossano dj. Munaia , Everaldo e Luziano. (Pessoas que influenciaram ele a ser dj.)

Aos meus deejays, Renato Cecin, Paulo Ciotti, Jeff Valle, Ana Paula, Douglas, Hebert Ton, Saturino,  Paulinho Agulhari,  João Neto, Herbert Monteiro, Rodrigo Borro,Rodolfo Bravati,Paulo Pacheco, Magal, Felipe Venâcio, Vlad, Jorge Glarsko, Felipe Lira, Flavio Lima,  Ale Amaral, Alê Bittencourt, ( o Dr eu amo  (risos-) Entre outros muitos mais....

Aos Vips,  André Bianchini, Rodrigo Zanard, Bob Yang, André Almada., Fefo Brumatti, César Semensato, André Victor, André Bastos, Piovesan , Molusko, Fernando Clufe,  Hanzo, Mat Saens, Ailton Botelho, Marco Carioca, Pablo Miami, André Furkin, Abel, Rovi, Kadu, Ítalo, André Ferret, Fabião , Jonas, Biene, , Alex F, André F., Paulo (  Diesel ) Jackson e Mirian  ( Mary Pop)

As minhas amigas de coração: ,  Marcele Aldini,  Caroline Prado, Fernanda  Fernandes, Grã, Ferreira ,  Rafaela Casagrande, Carla Elétrica, Flávia Conssalter, Márcia Fonseca.

 Kiron ressalta a importância destas  pessoas, diz ele,  serem a sua  família Pauliatana.

Tá né, aqui vai o link pro ultimo “House In Your Life”

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Playlist"][/caption]

  Links para Download:

Parte 1 Zshare Rapidshare

Parte 2 Sendspace Rapidshare

BLOG /// MYSPACE /// BOOKINGS

 Próxima entrevista acho que vai ser com o artista Chileno Juan Rojo, que está lançando álbum essa semana pela HouseSelective Recs.

avavav///

This film is vastly underrated and should be placed on the 'to watch' list of anyone who loves the over the top effects and general atmosphere of Re-Animator (Produced by Yuzna). Society is Yuzna's directorial debut and apart from some pacing issues and an at times incomprehensible plot, this film is by far the best lesser known splattery '80s horror goodie that you've never seen. I would put it above the recently re-released Street Trash as far as watchability goes.

The climax of the film is one of the best body-horror moments since Cronenberg's Videodrome, and well worth at least a rental. That is if you can find it at your local video store at all.

Yuzna's predeliction for bodily fluidity is again foregrounded, just check out his earlier work with Stuart Gordon like From Beyond, and in fact delivers more on-screen goo and weirdness than Re-Animator and From Beyond combined! And don't forget the fracturing of sexuality that must accompany all of this dismemberment/dislocation of body boundaries, this film just leaves no staple of '80s weird horror on the cutting room floor.

So, if you've ever thought that the rich were radically different than us poor media-sotted peons just wait until you see just how different they really are.

In the lead up to my podcast debut in mid-October, I wanted to kick-start the blog side of things here at “The Werewolf” with my first daily post (Daily not counting the weekend, of course.  Who do you people think I am?).  Each weekday I’ll bring you something on the quick but with a theme.  Of course, I may write an entry with some substance every once and a while if I get a wild hair, but in order to keep on task with my daily writing and keep the procrastination at a bare minimum these entries will be mostly on the pithy side; odds and ends really.  But, odds and ends that I’ll run under blanket categories such as this first entry in Tuesday’s Videodrome. 

KUBRICK, THE KING AND YOU 

So, after a couple decades of reading Stephen King novels, I’m finally getting around to reading “The Shining” for the first time.  Please, hold your gasps.  You’ll have much more to shake your head in disgust at as you get to know me.

Anyway, I never got around to reading the darn thing and that probably has everything to do with the impression that the Kubrick movie made on me at an early age.  Since then, I’ve resisted going to the book because I couldn’t imagine anything that would equal my reaction to that movie. 

But, I’ve just had way too many people extol it’s virtues to me over the years and been told too many times how the film betrays King’s novel that I’m finally ready to read it and decide for myself.  (Of course, I’ve mostly erased from my memory the Steven Weber starring TV adaptation that King wrote as an attempt to make a more faithful rendering of the novel and which unfortunately just contributed more to my reluctance to read it.)   

I’m barely into the book now, so I’ll have to save my impressions for another day.  But, naturally, it’s got me thinking of Kubrick and King and that’s led me to this handful of video nuggets…   

KING ON KUBRICK: 

In which Stephen King relates his first encounter with the late Kubrick.  A great story if not the best audio quality… 

KING ON YOU: 

That is, assuming you’re a struggling writer like me.  Of course, if you’re like me, you’ve already read Stephen King’s “On Writing” and have heard this advice in its expanded form… 

This advice is not earth-shattering, nor is it exclusive to King.  But, the utter simplicity of it is what makes it worth hearing.  And, it’s the main reason I’m starting “The Werewolf” to begin with.  Perhaps you recall the mantra of Billy Crystal’s character in “Throw Momma From the Train” (a flawed, but thoroughly watchable film) – “A writer writes…always.”  Well, he could have also easily said – “A writer reads…always.”   

Near as I can tell, you can’t have one without the other.   

THE SHINING ON YOU: 

Again, assuming you’re a writer, you spend a lot of lonely hours in quiet rooms going slowly insane.  This clip from the Kubrick film, split in two, gives us a dramatic interpretation of this struggle and also illustrates why the dedication page at the front of novels where writers sing the praises of their spouses should always include the sentence “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole.”  Of course, the Torrance’s here don’t ever get to that stage in the process as you’ll no doubt remember… 

And, that’s it for Videodrome today.  If you have 30 extra minutes on your hands and you haven’t seen the brilliant documentary by Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Vivian filmed during the making of “The Shining” you should do yourself a favor and click on these convenient links.  You will not be sorry.  All I’ll say is, poor, poor Shelley Duvall… 

Making the Shining, Part 1 

Making the Shining, Part 2 

Making the Shining, Part 3 

Making the Shining, Part 4 

Les Lords (Stiv Bators, RIP), c’est d’abord pour moi une chanson, « New Church » que j’écoutais religieusement tous les dimanches, car elle annonçait une émission célèbre dans ma région où, comme partout ailleurs, les radios libres avaient fleuri pour la plus grande joie des jeunes auditeurs. Un présentateur plein d’une verve gouailleuse, bourré d’ironie et moqueur à souhait, programmait une kyrielle de groupes punks, batcave et coldwave que j’écoutais en notant leurs noms… Nous n’étions pas loin d’Orléans où sévissait alors le mythique label Chaos Productions dont les groupes déjantés, parfois loufoques, passaient en boucle sur les ondes : ainsi, je me souviens avoir entendu dans cette émission, et ce presque toutes les semaines, ce titre Oï archi connu des Nabat, « Laida Bologna »…

(EN) The Secret Life Series is a project by nonprofit INFORM, Inc. that explores the enviromental impacts of everyday products we all use. Some months ago they came out with the first video called: The Secret Life of Cell Phones, and now they announced the second one called: The Secret Life of Paper. The two videos show how these objects arrive on our desks through the phases that go from extracting raw materials to the recycling process.  After watching them you'll think twice before clicking on Print button or getting seduced by that new model of mobile phone. Let's enter the Recycle Age!

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(IT)  "Secret Life Series" è un progetto della non profito INFORM, con l'obiettivo di esplorare l'impatto ambientale dei prodotti che usiamo tutti i giorni. Qualche mese fa sono usciti con il primo video intitolato: La vita segreta dei cellulari, e ora hanno annunciato l''uscita del secondo video dal titolo: La vita segreta della carta. I due video mostrano come telefonini e carta arrivano a casa nostra passando attraverso diverse fasi, dall'estrazione delle materie prime fino al processo che permette di reciclarne una buona parte. Dopo averli visti ci penserai due volte prima di cliccare su Stampa o di lasciarti affascinare dall'ultimo modello di telefono... E ora di entrare nell'Era del Riciclo.

IMDB

(David Cronenberg, 1983)

Classic subversive Cronenberg, full of perversions, horror and twisted dreamscapes. His fans consider this among his best. But I'm not sure if I'm really a fan. James Woods gives another fearless performance, but his supporting cast and the cryptic sci-fi script leaves me cold and disengaged.

Spoilers/synopsis after the jump.

Nothing in Videodrome resembles reality, but it taps into something at humanity's core. Woods, a sleazy TV exec, finds himself obsessed with a show that features torture and sex, bordering on snuff TV. Cronenberg's message here is clear - what is it about taboo that intrigues us, and threatens to overwhelm those of us that get trapped in its allure? However, he delves even further, exploring the dangerous side of television culture, about how it's based on manipulation and potential addiction. However, Cronenberg's unique vision requires that you realize this by watching Woods envelop his head in a bulging TV screen (above), or insert a VHS tape directly into a clearly vagina-like opening in his belly.

It almost appears when Cronenberg is in doubt, he veers toward the grotesque, something he shares with David Lynch. Perhaps it's a function of his chosen genre of sci-fi horror; maybe it's his outsider, Canadian background that propels him towards the unusual. As I write this, I know for a fact I'd enjoy this more on a second viewing. But initially, his visuals and ideas are sometimes so shocking and raw that the movie seems really calculated and again, cold.

This is partly my reaction to other 80s sci-fi classics - I hated Blade Runner when I finally saw it 25 years too late. Do I expect more because these films are so highly regarded? Am I jaded by 21st century sensibilities? Not sure, but for now, Videodrome gets a healthy, but not great 3.0/5.0.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus_(groupe)

La seule et unique version agréée par les créatures de la nuit... Le duo était improbable avec la chanteuse israélienne Ofra Haza dont certains clips sont rigardissimes, mais qui possède une voix sublime. Ils l'ont pourtant fait, juste avant de tomber eux-mêmes dans l'ultime disgrâce du bégaiement. Les Sisters ont enchanté quelques unes de mes soirées mémorables, celles où ivre mort, je finissais par terre ou, mieux, étalé sur une table. Bref, un chouette morceau.

J'avais 20 ans et ma petite amie de l'époque rêvait d'avoir pour lit un cercueil capitonné. Nous écoutions religieusement Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Death in June et bien sûr Christian Death qu'elle m'avait fait découvrir... Elle était vraiment très jolie, mais quelque peu allumée : ses mensurations de créature de manga n'arrivaient pas à me faire oublier ses moeurs nyctalopes. Certes, je n'étais à l'époque que le n°2 dans son cirque de femme fatale au sein duquel elle tenta également de faire entrer, mais en vain, mon meilleur ami. Moi qui n'était pas grand chose pour elle, je possédais donc tout le recul nécessaire pour savoir que cette liaison n'irait pas plus loin que les partiels du mois de juin.

Je ne suis pas comme les vénérables curistes qui, le plus souvent, adorent toutes les époques, tous les styles, tous les looks deleur groupe favori. Humble curieux, j'ai un petit faible pour l'album Faith (ah ! la coldwave...) et ne me lasse jamais de ce super morceau qu'est A Forest (j'ai dû en entendre une centaine de versions live). J'ai découvert les Three Imaginery Boys en 82-83 grâce à un copain de collège qui me fit écouter Pornography avec un air perplexe puis par un camarade de dortoir qui se passait en boucle, entre autres tubes new wave, Killing an Arab et Boys don't Cry... J'ai des photos de mon ex crêpée à la façon de Robert Smith... convaincante la groupie !

Pour ceux qui l'ont oublié, The Cult fut, dans un passé lointain, un groupe formidable loin de la ridicule pantomime que nous proposent aujourd'hui Ian Asbury et Billy Duffy. Au début des années 80, Southern Death Cult, Death Cult puis finalement The Cult surfèrent sur la vague post-punk annonçant, avec d'autres, l'avènement du gothic rock. Pour moi, Love, avec ses accents psychédéliques, demeure le meilleur album de l'année 1985, un pur joyau dont je ne me lasse pas et dans lequel on retrouve, à la batterie, Mark Brzezicki de Big Country. Tout ce qui a suivi, en revanche, est à oublier...

Bien, bien, bien... un morceau que j'écoute avec toujours autant de plaisir (la sono bien à fond). Blasts mortels, hurlements gutturaux, textes bien primaires... Finalement, les satanistes ne seraient-ils pas que de bien mauvais chrétiens(*) ? Quelle horreur !

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(*) En cherchant un peu, j'en ai trouvé des bons... s'ils ne changent pas leur musique, aucune chance que j'aille voir un jour ce genre de concert !!!! Question théologie, ça vole également très haut ... comme dans la scène où Jésus (is 33) sauve le pauvre Borat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G6Zn1757k8

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=7BmL-7Y1kw8

Harlan: North America's getting soft, *patron*, and the rest of the world is getting tough. Very, very tough. We're entering savage new times, and we're going to have to be pure and direct and strong, if we're going to survive them. Now, you and this cesspool you call a television station and your people who wallow around in it, your viewers who watch you do it, they're rotting us away from the inside. We intend to stop that rot.

1983. Videodrome is one of many movies that fit into what used to be called futuristic , now called dystopian , along with : They Live, Fahrenheit 451', Equilibrium' , Handmaid's tale, etc.  They usually depict a world that has fallen into decay , or come loose from its hinges  in one way or another.

http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/the-top-50-dystopian-movies-of-all-time/ Videodrome suggests something more than people getting zombified  and losing touch with their real existence through a series of flickering images. Was this a sign of things to come? Or was it more a statement on how we have become accustomed to , fail to be shocked by, and eventually come to expect-the hardcore, the sick, the strange, the overt, the degenerate.  What is the next logical leap? We become what we consume.  It used to be ' you are what you eat', but what about what your mind devours? Sick and twisted  served up as casually mainstream, like the 'humor' on that dreadful show 'Family Guy' , unthinkable not-so-many years ago- the ante has been upped and is continuously re-upped. We have the  personal computer with which to distract ourselves, with which to find interaction, if only 'virtual' such as in Videodrome.

Brian O'Blivion: [to Max Renn] Your reality is already HALF video hallucination. If you're not careful, it will become TOTAL hallucination. You'll have to learn to live in a very strange new world.

What new, awful, personal  thing can we reveal about ourselves on a myspace page?  How much is your Internet Reputation worth to you vs Your Real Life and those within it? How big of a public tantrum can we throw, what new attention-getting obnoxious thing can we say, what new thing can we do to test our 'friend's' loyalty, what we can get them to do? How many votes we can get?  And, if don't do it ourselves, we can get off on the sarcastic nastiness, backbiting , endless pseudo-debates with people we don't know. Are they worth talking to?   It is yet another example of what I talked about  in the last article I put up about the media establishing memes and correlations. In the case of the horrible television shows, they take some little slice-of-life and juxtapose that with something creepy, like  possibly gay babies that speak in affected accents (Stewie) or the  dad who cross-dresses. There are so many examples on that show of  how the media tries to mainstream things that are aberrations.  I hate that show with a passion, though some WN actually find it entertaining.

Why does the American public gobble up this tripe, love it with such fervor? I hear them talking about these people as if they know them!  "isn't so-and-so a bitch?"  " I hope so- and-so wins the American Idolatry  contest,  that judge doesn't know what he's talking about!".  Why do they care? Why are they so interested in celebrities? Why do they matter at ALL?  Your life is legitimate all by its wee non-TV self. Get it?

It's something to talk about- so that we don't have to a) talk about our own selves, B) it fills the uncomfortable-to-some spaces of real conversation with  third person experiences rather than  reflection on something that pertains to a real person, work,  art, joy, sickness, luck, money,  birth,death- the stuff of a real existence. c) it fills the space we could have thinking about and planning  our own lives.  A distraction that says we should be steered away from real experiences, from sharing them, steered away from introspection, silence- and into a  world  of artifice, sensation- that has nothing to do with us.

If we started giving a crap about what people we talk to in day-to-day life are thinking , and what their real experiences of the world are-  as well as our own -what the hell would we need TV for? Instead of craving escape, we might become dissatisfied. We might start seeing things in real life we don't agree with . We might start caring about Real Things, like War. Like being told half-truths or  all-lies by the media.  We might start questioning.  We might become restless and angry.  Worse, we might start  speaking  to others, and collectively want to take action.

In  the little communities that settled this country, or in small villages in Europe, would they have been interested in  watching sports, or 'reality shows' ? No, they were worried about their own and focused on building, sustaining life, growing food, earning their bread, on creating, advancement , taking care of their children, their sick, their elders, on preparing for the winter, on celebrating their victories, mourning their losses. The idea of keeping track of what fictional characters some group that had nothing in common with themselves had invented would not only be foreign and ridiculous, but stupid, counter-productive. It wouldn't make sense. That would take away from their own lives, would take away from their own stories and beliefs. Stories about people they  had no relation to, that had no effect on their lives would not be of interest. Yet this is the premise of the  American 'reality show', that we should pay attention, that we should take an interest in what other people are doing in artificially constructed 'reality' , that we should emulate them, that we are 'like them'.

In ancient Greece and Rome people put on plays, enacted various dramas, theater- but that was participatory, it was also a real social event that brought people of one area together.  Whether it was entertaining, or whether it added value to their lives is subjective. However, it says something that much of what they did is still around today. Thousands of years from now, if there is anything left-will people think what is called 'American Culture' is Spears and Springer? It is as real as TV can make you believe. The whole thing is exactly what they claim Race to be , a Construct. They define and redefine 'reality', 'truth' , and we look to this Thing,  this box of quickly flashing images and talking heads, and we are supposed to trust what they say, buy their crap, and believe they know what they are talking about when they say "this is harmful" , "this is hate", "this is what you should like, this is what you should be for or against,  these are the beliefs you should subscribe to" , this is what 'normal' looks like, this is what 'sick' looks like- and we do believe it, because we want to trust the box, we want to get approval from other box-watchers, want to live up to The Box's definition of Good Americans. Are they Fair? Are they Balanced? As opposed to what?

Where is your  Reality Reference Point?  Do you hold yourself up to actors? TV cooks? Makeover shows?  Do you watch those  I'm-in-the-wilderness-surviving-alone-with-a-camera-crew shows and at once are impressed but relieved it isn't you? Does it make you feel warm and safe, does it make you feel admiration?  Do you worry if you get a nasty email or if someone posts something lousy about you, whether or not they know you? Media is always talking about being 'careful' and 'responsible', pounding into our heads this sense that someone is watching, Careful, Responsible, Fair.  Many people  are much more interested in a Cause only in an impersonal sense- Cause as compartmentalized, fictional ideal, and  Real Life as Something Else- secondary at best. Do we value the things we claim to only in a vague, intellectual yet superficial way? Do we want to simply surround ourselves with those things, talk about them, yet cease to be them? Is it too late for these things?

There are things still left in the world that are intrinsically beautiful and good, in and of themselves, no media hype necessary. They have value because of what they are, or  perhaps in a utilitarian sense- for what they can do. We don't need the spotlight and jangly TV to tell us these things when we recognize them, we just know. Or do we? Has TV, junk magazines seeped so far into our supposed waking hours that we now only 'dream' our choices, our beliefs- our natural instincts stripped away in the quest for More, Econo, Crunchier, Smoother, Higher-Yielding, Bigger, Shinier, Richer, Thicker, Younger, Longer, Straighter, Thinner, Louder, Sexier, Brighter, New and Improved! 2.0, 3.0, ad infinitum?

Things that have inherent value don't need to be pushed at us.  One need not make excuses for or qualify them. Have you ever noticed that the TV will never, ever tell you that you don't need something unless its aim is to sell you something about how you don't need something, whether it  be on Oprah's Plantation of White Gurus, or a late-night infomercial selling you ab-rockers to magically rid you of your unsightly imperfections. Have you ever noticed you will never see an ad that says , 'Hey, turn off the  TV and read a book, here is a list of good ones'. When the TV tells parents to read to their kids, the parents tell the nanny to read to their kids.  Ahh, vicarious parenting. Good-illegal-non-stealing-non-complaining-just-like-one-of-the-family help is so hard to find.

Value your life, guard it jealously, and take care of yourself, your own life as it exists apart from 'internet activism', mindless consumerism. Do not let the memes that come from TV absorb you and cause you to internalize their ways of regarding the world, their ways of telling you what's what.  Remember how people used to warn off kids from pot because they said it would 'lead to harder drugs' and most of us laughed? One rarely hears anyone warning a kid off TV as it might lead to a softer brain, a brain with neuro-illogical pathways. Remember the life you have outside of television, of internet, of advertisements, magazines, shopping, stuff. It is yours, it does not belong to a Machine.

Brian O'Blivion: After all, there is nothing real outside our perception of reality, is there?

"I will only appear on TV-ON TV" he says.

un groupe allemand bien méconnu en France...